The Influence of Social Agents on Learning, Developing, and Growing Through Athletic Participation: A Theory of Athlete Development

Sports can significantly influence the lives of those who play them. Psychosocial outcomes such as values, skills, self-esteem, and goal setting are some of the referenced benefits associated with playing sports and are the result of athletes being exposed to situations in an environment that is favorable to learning. Due to the abundant nature of sports in the United States, there is a growing need to understand how to effectively create environments that are conducive to positive outcomes. However, such results and experiences are often anecdotally supported rather than scientifically driven. Therefore, the purpose of this dissertation was two-fold. First, it looked to develop and validate a reliable measure (i.e., Learned Lessons in Sport; LLS) to assess athlete’s perceptions that participating in sports led to their learning of valuable skills that transcend the sporting context. Second, it attempts to provide an empirical explanation and model to discern and assess how coaches’ communication affects a set of variables acting on learned lessons in sport. The designed measure and models serve to demonstrate the inherently communicative nature of sport and athlete development and identify the intersection of individual development and human growth that is the effect of playing sports. Using factor analytic techniques and serial mediation, three studies were conducted. Results of Study One (N = 207) and Study Two (N = 206), via exploratory factor analytics and confirmatory factor analytics, successfully developed and validated the LLS scale that assesses an athlete’s perception of their learning lessons through sport. The third study (N = 636) proposed and tested a model to demonstrate how coaches’ communication significantly affects a set of variables, such as values, orientation, and attitudes, that act on learned lessons via serial mediation. Results of Study Three support the proposed relationships but the data was not an overall good fit for the model and a revised model is proposed. Overall, this dissertation contributes to the growing field of sport communication and provides implications for stakeholders invested in creating meaningful environments for athletes to compete in

The Impact of HPV Vaccine Narratives on Social Media: Testing Narrative Engagement Theory with a Diverse Sample of Young Adults

Rates of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection are highest in young adults, who can be vaccinated against HPV if they were not vaccinated as adolescents. Since young adults increasingly access health information on social media, we tested the impact of a social media campaign with narrative-based health information on intentions related to HPV vaccination. We also aimed to understand which ads resonated most with young adults and led to higher survey completion rates. We created social media posts featuring videos promoting HPV vaccination. We launched a sponsored ad campaign on Facebook to reach young women, ages 18–26, across the country. Participants were randomly assigned one of 6 videos and then completed a brief survey about video engagement and intentions to: talk with a health care professional, talk with friends or family, and vaccinate against HPV. A descriptive correlational design and a test for moderation were used to explore hypothesized relationships. Across all ads, 1332 link clicks led to 991 completed surveys that were reduced to 607 surveys (95 % ages 18–26, 63 % non-Caucasian; 58 % sexually active). Higher video engagement was associated with stronger intentions to talk with a health care professional (r = 0.44, p =.01), talk with friends/family (r = 0.52, p =.01), and vaccinate against HPV (r = 0.43, p =.01). Young adults were receptive to watching narrative-based health information videos on social media. When promoting HPV vaccination, more engaging information leads to greater intentions to talk about the vaccine and get vaccinated

Digital Flourishing: Conceptualizing and Assessing Positive Perceptions of Mediated Social Interactions

Recent research started to apply concepts of well-being to the context of computer mediated communication (e.g., social media, instant messaging). While much research investigates negative perceptions of mediated social interactions (e.g., “problematic” or “addictive” social media use), a multi-dimensional measure that taps into users? positive perceptions is sorely lacking. The present research therefore develops the first comprehensive measure of digital flourishing, defined as positive perceptions of mediated social interactions. Building on a qualitative pre-study that aided the construction of the Digital Flourishing Scale (DFS), Study 1 (N = 474) employed exploratory factor analysis to reveal five subdimensions of digital flourishing. The preregistered Study 2 (N = 438) confirmed these five dimensions, yielding five reliable items per subscale and initial construct validity with three psychological needs from self-determination theory (SDT; competence, autonomy, relatedness) which were used as an underlying well-being framework for the development of the DFS. The preregistered Study 3 generated further construct validity by directly relating DFS to well-being. The scale is relevant for researchers and practitioners alike to better understand how users perceive their mediated interactions to impact mental health and well-being

The impact of HPV vaccine narratives on social media: Testing narrative engagement theory with a diverse sample of young adults.

Rates of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection are highest in young adults, who can be vaccinated against HPV if they were not vaccinated as adolescents. Since young adults increasingly access health information on social media, we tested the impact of a social media campaign with narrative-based health information on intentions related to HPV vaccination. We also aimed to understand which ads resonated most with young adults and led to higher survey completion rates. We created social media posts featuring videos promoting HPV vaccination. We launched a sponsored ad campaign on Facebook to reach young women, ages 18-26, across the country. Participants were randomly assigned one of 6 videos and then completed a brief survey about video engagement and intentions to: talk with a health care professional, talk with friends or family, and vaccinate against HPV. A descriptive correlational design and a test for moderation were used to explore hypothesized relationships. Across all ads, 1332 link clicks led to 991 completed surveys that were reduced to 607 surveys (95 % ages 18-26, 63 % non-Caucasian; 58 % sexually active). Higher video engagement was associated with stronger intentions to talk with a health care professional (r = 0.44, p =.01), talk with friends/family (r = 0.52, p =.01), and vaccinate against HPV (r = 0.43, p =.01). Young adults were receptive to watching narrative-based health information videos on social media. When promoting HPV vaccination, more engaging information leads to greater intentions to talk about the vaccine and get vaccinated